Bearfruit

All the laws of men which were not established by God (not in God’s word, the Bible) which if kept, contradicted the word of God, Christ did not keep. See: Matthew 15. Please write to me, and I would like to correspond on the subject a little more, thanks. ss

My mother is 7th day adventist, and there the observance of sabbath as worship day is a very serious matter. My father is eastern orthodox and for him resting and not working and going to church on sunday. After becoming personally interested in christian faith, I read New Testament and nowhere saw some strict commandments regarding a day of week, so I was really relaxed about saturday or sunday. But people are born in church, and think that this is BIBLE RULE, because nobody preaches about this, and because they don’t read the Bible themselves, without the ‘glasses’ they received while in church.

Even the hour of gathering was is not something strict, or the number of services, or clothing, like suits. In this respect I agree with Mark Driscoll that we should be fundamentalist in theology but liberal in culture.

7th day adventists ling on some passages in Isaiah and Genesis, to point that Sabbath is not Mosaic, but Edenic, and taht it will be observed in the New Earth too.

So I would add that Sunday worship is a early christian church - convention, and is nowhere strictly commanded in the Bible. There is freedom here, as I understand. In the beginning, as I read in church history, christians gathered really early in the morning (sunday), at about 3-4 o’clock AM, to worship, because during the day they had to work hard, because it was not a rest day until christianity ‘conquered’ the Roman Empire.

Matthew, I trust that this will assist as you seach the Scriptures for what God’s Word says. Your friend, Joshua in South Carolina.

BTW, your “required field rule” is killing me.

The Sabbath
“The First or Last Day of the Week?”

WCF 21.7 As it is the law of nature, that, in general, a due proportion of time be set apart for the worship of God; so, in His Word, by a positive, moral, and perpetual commandment binding all men in all ages, He hath particularly appointed one day in seven, for a Sabbath, to be kept holy unto Him:(1) which, from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, was the last day of the week; and, from the resurrection of Christ, was changed into the first day of the week,(2) which, in Scripture, is called the Lord’s Day,(3) and is to be continued to the end of the world, as the Christian Sabbath.(4)

(1)Exod. 20:8,10,11; Isa. 56:2,4,6,7.
(2)Gen. 2:2,3; 1 Cor. 16:1,2; Acts 20:7.
(3)Rev. 1:10.
(4)Exod. 20:8,10; Matt. 5:17,18.

WCF 21.8 This Sabbath is then kept holy unto the Lord, when men, after a due preparing of their hearts, and ordering of their common affairs beforehand, do not only observe an holy rest, all the day, from their own works, words, and thoughts about their worldly employments and recreations;(1) but also are taken up, the whole time, in the public and private exercises of His worship, and in the duties of necessity and mercy.(2)

(1)Exod. 20:8; Exod. 16:23,25,26,29,30; Exod. 31:15; Neh. 13:15-19,21,And 22.
(2)Isa. 58:13; Matt. 12:1-13.

WLC 116 What is required in the fourth commandment? A. The fourth commandment requireth of all men the sanctifying or keeping holy to God such set times as he hath appointed in his word, expressly one whole day in seven; which was the seventh from the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, and the first day of the week ever since, and so to continue to the end of the world; which is the Christian Sabbath,(1) and in the New Testament called The Lord’s day.(2)

(1)Deut. 5:12-14; Gen. 2:2,3; 1 Cor. 16:1,2; Acts 20:7; Matt. 5:17,18; Isa. 56:2,4,6,7
(2)Rev. 1:10

WLC 117 How is the Sabbath or the Lord’s Day to be sanctified? A. The Sabbath or Lord’s day is to be sanctified by an holy resting all the day,(1) not only from such works as are at all times sinful, but even from such worldly employments and recreations as are on other days lawful;(2) and making it our delight to spend the whole time (except so much of it as is to be taken up in works of necessity and mercy(3)) in the public and private exercises of God’s worship:(4) and, to that end, we are to prepare our hearts, and with such foresight, diligence, and moderation, to dispose and seasonably dispatch our worldly business, that we may be the more free and fit for the duties of that day.(5)

(1)Exod. 20:8,10
(2)Exod. 16:25-28; Neh. 13:15-22; Jer. 17:21,22
(3)Matt. 12:1-13
(4)Isa. 58:13; Luke 4:16; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:1,2; Ps. 92:(title); Isa. 66:23; Lev. 23:3
(5)Exod. 20:8; Luke 23:54,56; Exod. 16:22,25,26,29; Neh. 13:19

WLC 118 Why is the charge of keeping the Sabbath more specially directed to governors of families, and other superiors? A. The charge of keeping the Sabbath is more specially directed to governors of families, and other superiors, because they are bound not only to keep it themselves but to see that it is observed by all those that are under their charge; and because they are prone ofttimes to hinder them by employments of their own.(1)

(1)Exod. 20:10; Josh. 24:15; Neh. 13:15,17; Jer. 17:20,21,22; Exod. 23:12

WLC 119 What are the sins forbidden in the fourth commandment? A. The sins forbidden in the fourth commandment are, all omissions of the duties required,(1) all careless, negligent, and unprofitable performing of them, and being weary of them;(2) all profaning the day by idleness, and doing that which is in itself sinful;(3) and by all needless works, words, and thoughts, about our worldly employments and recreations.(4)

(1)Ezek. 22:26
(2)Acts 20:7,9; Ezek. 33:30-32; Amos 8:5; Mal. 1:13
(3)Ezek. 23:38
(4)Jer. 17:24,27; Isa. 58:13

WLC 120 What are the reasons annexed to the fourth commandment, the more to enforce it? A. The reasons annexed to the fourth commandment, the more to enforce it, are taken from the equity of it, God allowing us six days of seven for our own affairs, and reserving but one for himself, in these words, Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:(1) from God’s challenging a special propriety in that day, The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God:(2) from the example of God, who in six days made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: and from that blessing which God put upon that day, not only in sanctifying it to be a day for his service, but in ordaining it to be a means of blessing to use in our sanctifying it, Wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day, and hallowed it.(3)

(1)Exod. 20:9
(2)Exod. 20:10
(3)Exod. 20:11

WSC 59 Which day of the seven hath God appointed to be the weekly Sabbath?

A. From the beginning of the world to the resurrection of Christ, God appointed the seventh day of the week to be the weekly Sabbath; and the first day of the week ever since, to continue to the end of the world, which is the Christian Sabbath.(1)

(1)Gen. 2:2,3; 1 Cor. 16:1,2; Acts 20:7

You make the Sabbath sound like dry bones… :D
Let’s put some meat and sinew and flavor to the Sabbath truth, which makes a lot of sense to me:

I believe that Christ kept all the Commandments of God, because the Bible says that He did no sin (Heb. 4:15), though He came in the likeness of our sinful flesh, the God/man, our human-Divine Mediator. He set the example for us in our humanity as to how we are to live, reflecting His character, which is the character of the Father. We can only reflect, we cannot be the source as He is.

Therefore, I believe that Christ did keep the Sabbath fully as humanity must keep it. He had the Spirit of the Law, and if you have the Spirit of the Law, you will also have the works of the Law. Many people have the works and no spirit, and we cannot be saved by the works of the Law. We must be born again, following the Spirit and not the carnal flesh. Christ did the works of the Law, but that was because He was full of the Holy Spirit, and He loved the Law. Psalm 40:8.

Therefore, Christ fulfilled His own and the Father’s Ten Commandment Law, as well as the biblical statutes and judgments which explain the Law, living it fully and joyfully, showing that sinful humanity when connected to divinity by Faith in Christ their Saviour, can keep the Law of God, though He was perfect, and we can only strive towards perfection. He also fulfilled the ceremonial system, not that we are to keep it, no, but that He might show us its purpose and meaning foreshadowing His work of saving us from sin. He is the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world, John 1:29, who was slain from the foundation of the world (via sacrficial system, and now memorialized in Communion), Revelation 13:8. He was sacrficed once for us, bringing an end to the sacrificial system, for that was only a shadow of the reality, Jesus Christ. Col. 2:14-17. The yearly feast days, holy yearly feast sabbaths (not seventh-day Sabbaths) and sacrifices and offerings were no longer necessary, for they all pointed forward to Christ.

The weekly Sabbath is a memorial of our Creator, and identifies Him and His position: the Lord God who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is. Exo. 20:8-11. The weekly Sabbath is also a memorial of His creative power to make us new Creatures in Him. He was the Redeemer who brought us out of Egypt, out of slavery to sin. So it memorializes that He is the one who is sanctifying us, making us holy and victorious over sin. ‘We cannot overcome sin without Him. The Sabbath is His sign to His true people who have the Law written in their hearts, that He is the Lord who is sanctifying them. See Exodus 31:12-17 and Ezekiel 20:12, 20, etc. The Sabbath therefore is the sign of the New Covenant. Hebrews 8:8-12. It surpasses Sunday which is a man-made holiday established by the papacy, not being commanded by God in the Bible. The Lord’s Day of the Bible is only found to be the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. Unfortunately one has to go to the traditions of the so-called early Church Fathers (who are not inspired of God) to find reason to make Sunday the Lord’s Day.

I praise the Lord for His truth and creative power to work in us through the Holy Spirit.

I hope these biblical truths will catch like wildfire, to God’s glory.

ss

Shelly, thank you for your comments. I’d just like to point out to the others who may come across this blog that you represent the Seventh Day Adventist organization, whose views are quite controversial among evangelical Christians.

Joshua, thanks for posting. What does WCF stand for? While those are all excellent quotes, they completely sidestep my reference above from Hebrews (Heb 4:1-3) and other references, such as Heb 8:7-8,13, Heb 7:12,19, Col 2:14,16

Sorry about the math, but the good news is, I’ve only had one spam post in months. :-)

WCF = Westminster Confession of Faith. Matthew, you’re awesome and your blog rolls.

Jesus re-stated the Sabbath command in the form “come to me all you who are heavy laden and I will give you rest”. The author to the Hebrews expands on this and very clearly links the Sabbath rest to faith, which we enter into through believing.
The irony is that we have to “labour to enter the rest” (Heb 4:11) which shows that faith is not purely passive. However it is through the power of the Spirit that we work, so it is really his work and not ours.
With regard to the Sabbath day, Paul is very clear in Col 2:16 that there is no more need to honour one day above another.

I wrote a paper last semester that was a general biblical theological survey of the Sabbath and its its importance for New Testament belivers. My general thesis was that pastors and teachers need to labor to distinguish between the Lord’s Day and the Sabbath, considering that the New Testament sees Christ as being the fulfillment of rest for God’s people—I do not have enough time here to defend this thesis but recommend Scott Haffeman’s “God of promise and the life of faith,” D.A. Carson’s “from sabbath to Lord’s Day,” and Michael Horton’s chapter on the fourth commandment in his book “the law of perfect freedom.”

The reason I am posting here is to see if you could recommend any other sources on the Sabbath. I am going to write an ethics paper this semester as a sort of follow up to my biblical theology paper and thought I would ask if you may have an other more up to date sources on the issue. If you have any ideas, email me at [novice724 at gmail dot com] (

I have put a series of 5 articles on the Sabbath by the scholar Donald B. Garlington up on loveintruth.com. You can find them at: http://garlington.loveintruth.com/
He would take position similar to Haffeman and Carson, but I think he has some unique insights you won’t find in the other writers. (I had the priviledge of having Don on my faculty when I was the principle of TBS).

Through Christ’s grace, we no longer need to follow old testament law to achieve salvation. However, when we are born again through that grace, our new lives naturally include some of what was followed in the old testament as law.

For example, we don’t tithe to get into heaven, but we tithe out of love for God and fellow humans.

As to observing the Sabbath law, I feel this is an example of surrendering to God, that he will take care of you, that you don’t need to work 24x7 to survive in this world.

My Sundays usually involve concentrating on family, relationships with friends and enjoying the outdoors. However, I will sometimes skip church to spend Sunday taking fire training classes (i’m a volunteer firefighter) that can very easily be construed as working. We discussed this subject in the small group I am part of, and reminded ourselves what Jesus to the church leaders when he healed the person on the Sabbath. (sorry, my journey as a Christian has been too short to breakout needed verse) I think we need to look at the details, instead of following the absolute rule NO WORKING ON THE SABBATH.

Gods laws can not bet changed by the church or any one else.The reason the sabbath was changed to Sunday The Christians were being persecuted under Haraid (spelling might be wrong) So they started practiceing the Sabbath on the same day the romans worshipped there sun god. Jesus said himself that he did not come to do a way with the law or change it in anyway The word of God let no man take away or add to it The Sabbath is Saturday. You can try to make it fit in your life all you want it does’nt change it. If people accept the Bible for what it is and what it says We would not be going through what is happening today. That is my take on it

Good discussion.

For more lively bible AND sabbath discussion , join me at

http://www.biblicalperspectives.com/endtimeissues/et_186.htm

or

http://www.adventistonline.com

See you there..God be with you…